First responders at a New York subway station treating an unconscious homeless man who had been placed in a chokehold by a Marine veteran opted to administor Narcan rather than CPR.
Daniel Penny, 25, will stand trial this month accused of manslaughter and negligent homicide after he placed Jordan Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator with mental health issues, in a six-minute, fatal chokehold in May 2023.
Neely was behaving erratically on the subway, screaming and threatening people on the train, prompting Penny, then 24, to intervene and throw him to the floor.
Penny insists he was simply trying to subdue him for the safety of others on the train, and he’s amassed a loyal base of supporters who have raised $3million to fund his legal defense on this basis.
The veteran’s pre-trial hearing took place at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, where one of the officers who first responded to distress calls made the shocking admission.
The officer was asked under cross examination whether he performed CPR on Neely when he arrived, Inner City Press reported.
‘We didn’t,’ he said.
After being probed further, the officer revealed first responders did, however, use Narcan on Neely when they arrived.
Narcan is a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. The officer said it ‘seemed like’ Neely was still breathing, and confirmed he still had a pulse when they arrived.
A Marine veteran accused of killing a homeless man when placing him in a six-minute chokehold has arrived in court
Penny held Neely in a chokehold on the subway car floor while others assisted on May 1, 2023
The case shocked America and has divided the public.
Some agree that Penny acted heroically in the moment, while others say it was a blatantly excessive show of force toward a mentally ill, homeless black man.
Supporters have rallied behind Penny and backed a fundraiser in his name.
As he returned to court on Thursday, new donations began pouring in. One donor said Penny ‘would have been considered a good Samaritan in yesteryear.’
As of Thursday, the campaign has raised $3.098million for Penny’s legal fees with thousands of donations ranging from $5 to $20,000.
One of the most generous donors was former Republican presidential candidate nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, who gave $10,000 to the cause last year.
Daniel Penny is facing charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide following the May 2023 death of Jordan Neely , a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator with mental health issues
On Thursday, the court was played body-camera footage from the day of the incident, in which Penny told officers Neely was ranting on the train about being ‘ready to go to prison for life.’
‘He’s like… I’m ready to die… I think I might have just put him in a choke, put him down. We just went to the ground. He was trying to roll up. I had him pretty good. I was in the Marine Corps.’
Penny’s legal team would like those comments to be suppressed at trial.
The defense are expected to address Neely’s prior history of committing crimes on public transport, along with his mental illness and drug use.
But prosecutors argue Neely’s prior history, drug use and mental health battles are irrelevant to the case.
The state has also repeatedly rebuffed claims that Penny was acting in self-defense, arguing he demonstrated excessive force and should have known that his actions could be fatal, given his Marine experience.
On Thursday, ahead of his jury trial next week, Penny appeared at the Manhattan Supreme Court for a pre-trial hearing
Neely had an extensive rap sheet for crimes on the subway, including vicious assaults of other passengers.
In 2021, he attacked an elderly woman as she left the Bowery station in the East Village. She suffered a broken nose, a fractured orbital bone, and ‘bruising, swelling and substantial pain to the back of her head.’
He admitted felony assault on February 9 in exchange for a 15-month alternative-to-incarceration program, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
He was supposed to stay in a treatment facility and stay sober.
Between January 2020 and August 2021, he was arrested for public lewdness after pulling down his pants and exposing himself to a woman, misdemeanor assault for hitting a woman in the face, and criminal contempt for violating a restraining order.
All three cases were dismissed as part of a deal.
In June 2019, Neely assaulted 68-year-old Filemon Castillo Baltazar on the platform of the W. 4th St. Station in Greenwich Village, court records show.
One month earlier, Neely punched a man in the face, breaking his nose on the platform of Broadway-Lafayette – the same subway station where he died.
Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator who was known and recognized in Times Square (pictured in 2009)
Assistant district attorney Joshua Steinglass said the F train they were traveling on arrived at the Broadway-Lafayette station and the door opened less than 30 seconds after the chokehold started.
‘Passengers who had felt fearful on account of being trapped on the train were now free to exit the train,’ Steinglass said.
‘The defendant continued holding Mr Neely around the neck.’
Steinglass said second degree manslaughter only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally.